Cover for a loose leaf notebook or the like



Jan. 22, 1957 K. c. CARRASCO 2,773,397

' COVER FOR A LOOSE LEAF NOTEBOOK OR THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. K4 77-. 50v C. C4P/PA6CO BY M Jan. 22, 1957 K. c. cARRAsco 2,778,397

COVER FOR A LOOSE LEAF NOTEBOOK OR THE LIKE IN V EN TOR. A44 1% 5 6. CAAFA sco United States Patent 2,778,397 COVER Fon A LOOSE LEAF NOTEB K oR-THELIKE Kathleen. C. Carrasco, New York, N. Application November 26, 1954,. Serial No. 471,236 2 Claims. or. 15051.6)

The present invention relates to. looseleaf notebooks and, more particularly, it. relates to a cover for-a loose leaf notebook having a zipper means. for closing the notebook.

Heretofore, loose leaf notebooks of the. type which employ zipper means for closing the covers thereof have been of suchconstruetion that the covers are substantially larger in; size than. the notebook pages. This is. because that typeof notebook cover utilizes a zipper means of the closedend type which limits by" several: inches the length. of the notebook ring. binder and which requires a gusset construction; It the. notebook coverwere not substantially longer than the; metal ring binder, it would be impossible to havethe notebook cover lie flatwhen open. The. additionat material; used this type of notebook cover and the additional steps required to manufacture suchaa notebook are reflected. in the. cost of the item.

In-accord Withi my invention, I have. provided a loose leafnotebook comprising. a. cover made of a unitary piece. of leather; a metali ringbinder and a zipper: means of the open end type which extends around three edges of the. cover and is adapted to. closev the same.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to. provide a. loose: leafir notebook of the abovedescribed character wherein. the. cover will lie flat when open and wherein thenote book ring binder is of the same length as the cover. I

Another objectof the present invention istoprovide a. loose. leafnotebook of. the above; described character which has a cover formed of: a unitary piece of leather.

' Stillanother object ofij the present invention is to provide a: loose leafi notebookempl'oying an open end zipper means for closingthe cover of the notebook.

In addition, it is an object of-'= the presentinvention to provide several modifications thereof designed for fastening'thepull tab of the zipper means when the notebook is closed.

One advantage residing in my invention is the fact that my novel cover will save space within the notebook permitting the use of maximum size pages.

Another advantage stems from the fact that my notebook is simpler and less expensiyeto manufacture when compared tothe present type of zipper cover loose leaf notebook.

Other objects and advantages of the; present invention will become} more apparent, as-it is. described: in detail below, with particular reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein.-

Figure 1: :is. a. view in perspective; showing. my.- novel notebook in the open position;

Figure 2 is a view in perspective showing the notebook in the closed position;

Figure 3 is a fragmental view in elevation showing an upper corner of my notebook with the zipper means ready for closing;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the zipper means closed;

-21 to edge 21a.:of right lower cutout 21.

2,778,397 Patented Jan. 22, 1957 Figure 5 is a plan view showing the leather blank from which the cover isformed;

Figure 6- is a sectional view taken on lines 6-6 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure. 7 is a sectional view taken on lines 7--7 of Figure 1 and looking inthe direction of the arrows;

Figure 8. is a fragmental view of an upper corner of my notebook showing a modified form of the zipper closure; and

Figure 9 isa fragmental view in elevation of an upper corner of my notebook showing a second modified form of the zipper closure.

With. particular reference to Figure 1', there is shown the loose leaf notebook 10 comprising the leather cover 11,. the metal ring binder 12, paper pages 13, and open end zipper means 14 located onthecover 11. The zipper means 14 has two connectable portions 14a and 141;, which are mounted on the front and back portions 11a and 11b of cover 11,, respectively. The zipper means 14 is of. the open end. type, i. c., the zipper portion 142: is detachable from the zipper portion 141 This arrangement permits the front and back portions 11a and 11b of the cover 11 to lie flat when the notebook 10 is open. The metal ring binder 12 extends the length of the notebook 10.

In forming'my novel notebook 10; I take a rectangular shaped blank piece of leather 29, as seen in. Figure 5', and cut away each corner thereof so as to define four equal and square shaped cutouts 21 having horizontal edges 21:: and vertical edges 21b.

Foldj tabs 18 and 19 are provided at the mid-portions of the top and; bottom edges of the piece of leather 20'. The fold tab 18 is formed by cutting: the top edge of the piece of leather 20 along lines 22" and 23, which lines extend downwardly from the topaedge of the leather piece 20: on either side of vertical mid-line 24 and equally spaced apart therefrom. The bottom edge of the piece of leather 20 is cut in a similar manner along lines 25 and 26 to. define fold tab 19. The lines 22 and 23 and the lines 25 and 26" extend inwardly no farther than horizontal fold lines 27' and 28. The upper foldline 27 extends from edge 21a of the left upper cutout 21' to edge- 21a of. the right upper cutout 21. The lower fold line 28 extends from edge 21a of the left lowercutout The fold tab 18 is thus. d'efinedlby cut. lines 22' and: 23 and fold line 27 andthe fold tab 19 isdcfinedby cut lines 25 and 26' and fold line 28. p

There is further provided a. pair of vertical fold lines 30' and 31- extending down. the piece of leather 20. The fold line 30"extends from the edgeZlb of the left upper cutout 21- to the edge 21b' of the left lower cutout 21. The fold line 31 extends from the edge 21:; of the right upper cutout 21 to the edge 21b of the'right lower cutout 21.

An intermediate pair of vertical fold lines 32 and 33 join the cut lines 22- and. 23 and the lines 25 and 26, respectively. The fold lines 32" and 33 are equally spaced apart from the-mid line 24.

The top edge of. the leather piece 20 is then out along diagonal lines; 34: and 35' to define the triangular tabs 36 and37. The triangular tabs 36 and 37 are cut-ai their bases along line 27 sex-that. the tabs are'removed leaving the: extending-.triangular tabs' 'SSa-and 37a on either side OfIfOldftflbilS.

The peripheral edges of the piece of leather 20 are folded upwardly along fold lines 27, 28, 30 and 31 so that the edges 21a and 21b of each cutout 21 engage each other. The edges 21a and 21b of each cutout 21 are then stitched together as seen in Figure 7. The piece of leather 20 now comprises a leather cover 11 with extending peripheral edges stitched together at the four corners of the cover. The peripheral edges extend substantially perpendicular from the fiat surface of the piece of leather 2d.

The metal ring binder 12 is then disposed over the piece of leather so that it is bounded by vertical fold lines 32 and 33 and horizontal fold lines 27 and 26. The metal ring binder 12 is of a conventional type cornprising a plurality of metal snap rings 40, a metal support 41 for the snap rings and a leather or cardboard base 42 disposed underneath the metal support. The base 42 is glued or otherwise affixed to the piece of leather 2%.

The zipper portions 14a and 14b of the zipper means are then sewn to the upwardly extending portions of the cover 11. The zipper means 14 is of the usual type comprising a pair of metal tracks each track being mounted on a fabric bias. The bias 43 of zipper portion 14a is joined by a line of stitching 44 to the extending edges of the front portion 11a of the cover 11. The bias 45 of zipper portion 14b is likewise joined by a line of stitching 46 to the extending edges of the back portion 11b of the cover 11. This can be best seen in Figures 1 and 6. The metal track of zipper portion 14]: carries a slide fastener 47. The metal tracks are detachable from each other so that when the notebook cover 11 is open, the front and back portions 11a and 11b of the cover 11 are able to lie in a fiat manner.

In closing my notebook 16, the front and back portions 11a and 11b of cover 11 are brought together so that the end of the metal track of zipper portion 14a may be inserted into the slide fastener 47 located on the zipper portion 14-h. it would be quite impossible to insert this end of the metal track into the slide fastener 47 if it were not for the fact that the ends of the zipper portions 1% and 1415 have a degree of flexibility since they are located on the triangular tabs 36a and 37a as seen in Figures 3 and 4. The manner in which the end of the metal track of zipper portion 14a is inserted into the slide fastener 47 is seen in Figure 3. The slide fastener 47 is then pulled along the metal tracks to the opposite ends thereof so that the cover 11 of the notebook 10 is closed.

in Figure 8, there is shown a modified form of the zipper closure. in this modification, the biases 43 and 45 have extending portions 543 and 51 which carry the metal tracks of the zipper means 14 but which are not joined to the cover 11. Instead, these extending portions 56 and 51 dangle over the upper edge 52 of the closed notebook 1G. Overlapping triangular tabs 53 and 54 are located on the extending portions and 51. These triangular tabs 53 and 54 carry cooperative snap fastener means 55 so that the tabs can be closed.

In Figure 9, there is shown a further modified form of the zipper closure. As in the case of the modification shown in Figure 8, the biases 43 and 45 have the extending portions 54) and 51 which carry the metal tracks of the zipper means 14 but which are not joined to the cover 11. These extending portions 55} and 5'1 are adaptcd to dangle over the upper edge 52 of the closed notebook 10. A rectangular flap 56 is joined to the outer surface of the back portion 11b of the cover 11. This fiap 56 has a snap fastener 57 which is adapted to co operate with a snap button 58 located on the outer surface of the front portion 11a of the cover 11. The flap 56 is so located that it can be brought around to cover the extending portions 56 and 51 when the snap fastener 57 is joined to the snap button 58.

Although I have described my invention as applied to a loose leaf notebook as shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. For example, the upturned peripheral edges of the cover 11 may be joined at the four corners of the cover in any conventional manner at all rather than with the stitching shown.

Moreover, it is not necessary that the square shaped cutouts 21 be provided. Instead, the four corners of the rectangular piece of leather 20 may be tucked and gathered in forming the upturned edges of the cover 11. In fact, the zipper means 14 could be applied to the edges of the blank piece of leather 11 without upturning the peripheral edges of the same. This is particularly desirable where a thin notebook is to be used.

Furthermore, my invention is not necessarily limited to a looseleaf notebook. It may be equally applied to a portfolio such as is used by salesmen and the like for carrying their wares, pamphlets and samples.

Finally, my notebook or portfolio may be made of any flexible material though leather is preferred.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A portfolio comprising in combination a cover and zipper means for opening and closing said cover, said cover comprising a rectangular piece of flexible mate rial, said cover having a front portion and a rear portion, the side, top and bottom edges of said front and rear portions being turned substantially perpendicular to the body of said cover and being joined at their adjacent ends, said zipper means including a zipper track mounted on the peripheral edges of said front portion and a zipper track mounted on the peripheral edges of said rear portion, a slide fastener slidably attached to one of said tracks and adapted to be slidably attached to and detached from the other of said tracks in a manner to engage and disengage said tracks, whereby the zipper tracks may be completely separated from one another when the cover is open permitting the front and rear portions to lie in a plane.

2. A portfolio comprising in combination a cover and zipper means for opening and closing said cover, said cover comprising a rectangular piece of flexible material, said cover having a front portion and a rear portion, the side, top and bottom edges of said front and rear portions being turned substantially perpendicular to the body of said cover and being joined at their adjacent ends, a triangular tab attached to the inner ends of each of the top edges, said zipper means including a zipper track mounted on the peripheral edges of said front portion and a zipper track mounted on the peiipheral edges of said rear portion, the top inner ends of said zipper track being mounted on said tabs, a slide fastener slidably attached to one of said tracks and adapted to be slidably attached to and detached from the other of said tracks in a manner to engage and disengage said tracks, whereby the zipper tracks may be completely separated from one another when the cover is open permitting the front and rear portions to lie in a plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,115,993 Kranhold May '3, 1938 2,173,120 Lifton Sept. 19, 1939 2,453,663 Hinson Nov. 9, 1948 2,502,275 Perlin Mar. 28, 1950 2,536,169 Gray Jan. 2, 1951 

